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Friday, November 13, 2009

Comfy and cozy - Vogue 8580 knit tunic

Recently I found myself in need of some loose fitting, super comfy, kick around at home clothes. Now I bet you have a decent supply of those types of garments, right?

Well, if you look into my closet you will find quite a few dresses, nice tailored blouses, dozens of dress pants and skirts, as well as jackets and blazers. But not too many I-want-to-be-comfy-and-I'm-not-leaving-the-house-so-it-doesn't-have-to-be-gorgeous clothes.

It's one of those patterns that, as you're sewing the pieces together you ask yourself "and I spent $3.99 on this because....?" and find you really don't have an answer.

That's because the design is so simple, and has so few pieces, that most of you could easily 1) draft it yourself or 2) morph together other pattern pieces to create it.

However, that's beside the point. Let me give you my thoughts on the finished tunic sewn from this pattern.

H.U.G.E. amount of ease.

That about sums it up. *LOL*

All right, I'll tell you more.

First of all, it really does have a huge amount of ease built into the design.

For example, finished hip for a small measures about 49-1/2". Now compare that to the hip measurement for a small, which is 34-1/2". See what I mean? Alot of ease for a knit garment.

It's also quite long. I didn't bother to fit as I sewed and the finished tunic could easily be worn as a dress. Which, just to set the record straight, I will not be doing.

This tunic is a size small.

I also thought the under bust band was odd. The band is sewn on separately, with an opening at the center front to insert the elastic. Four inches at the center front are left unelasticized. The band is quite wide - about 2" when completed. Which works if you have 2" elastic, which I did not. I had 1-1/2" elastic which causes the band to not lay as nicely as it could.

The knit I used is a soft cotton blend that feels almost like a very light weight sweatshirt. It's almost too heavy for this design, so keep your fabric choice in mind when sewing this pattern.

The neckline probably would not have needed any stabilization, but I didn't want to take any chances.

I sewed a strip of stay tape to the wrong side of the neck edge.

Turned the neck edge to the wrong side and top stitched in place.

And promptly discovered that I somehow had managed to sew one neck edge curved and on straight *LOL* So it looks like it's back to sewing machine for me.